Associated Press
Mar. 16, 2007 02:33 PM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - In a tragic twist to a familiar story, a teenager who had sex with his married 30-year-old teacher was fatally shot outside the woman's home, and authorities have charged the woman's husband.

"You see all this stuff with teachers involved with their students. It just comes up time after time on the national news," said Norman McLean, father of suspect Eric McLean. "Well, this is the first time where one has actually died over it."

McClean's wife, Erin, had completed half of a one-year teaching internship at West High School, where she met the 18-year-old Sean Powell last fall.
advertisement

Powell's mother, who gave him up for adoption a dozen years ago but re-established contact in 2005, said her son acknowledged having an affair with a teacher.

Flynn, whose son sometimes stayed at her home in Nashville, said she later found text messages on her phone. "Come home. Baby, I love you. You are beautiful," they said. She believes Erin McLean preyed on her son.

"These teachers are feasting on our children in school and something has to be done," Flynn said.

Powell "was a great kid, full of life," Flynn said. He had taught himself to play guitar and just received his driver's license. His adoptive parents, Scarlett and Jack Powell, had just bought him a car.

But he left school on Nov. 20 and did not return. School officials refuse to explain, citing privacy laws. Flynn said her son had a substance-abuse problem and went to rehab for less than a month.

Norman McLean described his son, one of his eight children, as "an excellent person," who was not violent, but he acknowledged that his son "had a lot of burden on him for months now," referring to his wife's affair.

"Now, I am only talking about myself. But I can personally only take so much," Norman McLean said. "Everybody has a breaking point and there is only so much you can endure before you get to that place ... where you lose control."

Norman McLean said his son, once a percussionist in the University of Tennessee marching band, put his own academic career on hold to support his family while his wife of 11 years pursued a graduate teaching degree from the University of Tennessee. He has worked as a pizza deliveryman while taking classes at the university.

Eric McLean is one semester short of completing a bachelor's degree in music education. A popular performer in local rock n' roll bands, he hoped to become a school band director.

On the evening of March 10, McLean called police to say an intruder was at the couple's home. About 7 minutes later, Erin McLean called back to say her husband had just shot Powell outside in the boy's car.

Eric McLean fled in his car, which was later found at the high school. McLean was arrested Sunday, walking along railroad tracks about 6 miles away, still carrying the suspected murder weapon, a shotgun.

Sean Powell was buried Thursday after a funeral attended by more than 150 friends and former classmates.

"I didn't color any rosy pictures," said the Rev. Lee Wallace, who officiated. "I said, Sean, like myself, is not perfect. He was a boy who had hopes and dreams and goals in life, like everybody else, and those were cut short."

Erin McLean has moved in with relatives in Nashville with the couple's two young sons, ages 11 and 7. She has not been charged with any wrongdoing. Police say she has hired a lawyer but could not provide a name.

The attorney for Eric McLean, 31, acknowledges that McLean killed Powell. "So this trial is going to be about what really did happen and why - not who," attorney Bruce Poston said.

Poston said McLean is in a "state of shock. Like watching a deer caught in the headlights. Literally wondering, Have I made a decision that will ruin the rest of my life as well as others?' "

Come on clmanges,Young guys (call them boys or men) are not going to think rationally when offered what the female teacher allegedly offered and maybe even delivered .Least wise I can speak for myself and I damn sure am not proud of some of the things I did as a young 18-22 year old . I tried to teach our son better, but don't know how much of it really sunk in. Here is hoping that the children,that are the real victims here. Have a good set of Grandparents for support and love. Just my .02. catfish

Aye, laddie. She has not been charged... yet. Now, a judge might see the hardship on the family with both parents being charged with felonies and not charge her, but the fact is that she has created this entire scenario.

This just might be a wake-up call to all the teachers who prey on their students. There are more consequences at risk than just a bit of jail time and some public embarassment.

My sentiments exactly.On the other hand call the young man up and just tell him, She is yours, Just remember, she said, "She loved and wanted to be with me forever?" Just how long will your forever be???
Leopards never change their spots and a liar is still a Liar. catfish

Now stretching the length of a fish shouldn't count as an out an out LIE, should it.

Come on clmanges,Young guys (call them boys or men) are not going to think rationally when offered what the female teacher allegedly offered and maybe even delivered .Least wise I can speak for myself and I damn sure am not proud of some of the things I did as a young 18-22 year old . I tried to teach our son better, but don't know how much of it really sunk in.

Click to expand...

Well, I know it's tough, but this could be an example for people to use. I guess you'd have to have a pre-emptive discussion about the consequences of accepting inappropriate invitations. Starting early would be better than late.

I believe Glocknut to be correct; my ex had 'issues' with finding her way home; I simply put all her s**t out on the drive, and she quickly 'got it'!
Hormones are powerful chemicals, they, and the urges they bring on, can 'move mountains', but hell, I live in Texas, with few mountains to move!
Seems simpler, to me, to remove the offending part of my life, and get on with it, than to cap some kid, and spend the next ten years, or more, of my life, in a cage!
As a point of information, as I told the ex, 'the bed won't stay empty, long', was even truer than I imagined, with a new girlfriend moving in three or four days later!
Before anybody gets their panties in a dither, understand, I value committment, and attention to purpose, beyond most anything else, but I expect to receive as good as I give, in loyalty, integrity, etc.
Present Girlfriend has a different address, but, clothes at both places, as do I; we've both been 'round the block', once or twice, and that is what works, for us.
Fact is, people change, every day, hour, minute, in response to situational inputs, and this is as it should be, but, hopefully, in response to one another.
Rachel has stood by me, in times of crisis, as I do her, for our mutual benefit.
Whether she, or I, pays her phone bill, this month, is small potatoes, compared to having such a partner, and we both recognise the fact.
But, if, tomorrow, she was 'too busy' for me, I can say with a certainty I can walk away, with a clear conscience, and no bloodshed, as I wish, and always have, she the life she wants, with me, or whomever she chooses.
The guy who killed this kid should have looked to the source of the issue, the subject, not the object, and 'fixed ' that, first.
Had he 'taken care of business, at home', his wife, and he, would still be together, without any celebrity.
Just my rambling .02.
Terry